My most favorite character of all time, Ryo Akizuki!

He first debuted in the 2009 game Dearly Stars. Bothered by his feminine appearance and popularity with men, he decides to become an idol to improve his masculinity. He asks his cousin, Ritsuko Akizuki (765 idol), for help, and she introduces him to 876 Production. He is disturbed to find that he has to perform as a female idol. It's only after that can he make a debut as a male idol, so he begins his life as a female idol.

And, he does succeed! Though he had unique struggles compared to the other girl idols, he ended up learning a lot of useful things as a female idol! Though, many of his fans are disappointed to find that he's actually a boy, since they only liked girl Ryo, but there were many fans on his side, awaiting his debut as a boy idol! Many people were inspired by his courage.

Many people, including several of the idols at 315 Production, an idol agency that specializes in producing male idols! He debuted in SideM in 2015. There he is able to realize his dream of become a cool male idol. But, not only a cool male idol that girls will like, but an equally cute and cool idol that everyone can like, regardless of their gender!

I LOVE RYOOOOOO

Actually, when I first played SideM, I wasn't a RyoP at all! For the first year or so of me liking iDOLM@STER, I wasn't much of a fan of Ryo. BUT! That changed a lot when I started listening to his music and reading his stories, and playing Dearly Stars!

Ryo's story really resonates with me. Particularly, I LOVE his androgyny. Not necessarily in the sense of "looking girly and boyish" but in terms of his personality. He had a tendency to get embarassed about liking or doing girly things, and tried really hard to appear masculine. So seeing him embrace those things deemed girly is SO SO NICE. Particularly, I love the Wedding Chapel Promotion magazine. It's really nice to see that his time as a girl idol still helps him, sob sob.

Though, of course, I love the boy idol Ryo the most, as that is what he always wanted to be. Seeing him work so hard to achieve that dream of his is just aaaggghhhh it's so nice. I love his friends in Dearly Stars and F-LAGS so much, including his other friends at 765 and 315 Production. Seeing him become a cool boy idol while not rejecting his super cute side is so wholesome and nice to see... I hope you'll enjoy Ryo too.